Definition of "barleycorn" []

• The grain of barley. (noun)
• A unit of measure equal to the length of a grain of barley, or about 1/3 inch (0.85 centimeter). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""barleycorn" pseudomorphs of calcium carbonate after celestite from"
• "We needed nearly all the grain for our own use; there was none to trade or sell, and only a scant few bags of barleycorn sat under canvas near the malting shed-where they were likely to rot, I thought grimly, as no one had had time to see to the malting of a fresh batch before the cold weather set in."
• "Asclepiades, that it is performed from the excellent quality of the sperm, after the manner that from the root of one barleycorn two or three stalks do grow; sperm that is of this quality is the most prolific."